De Neve Gueuze

Brewed by Belle-Vue (InBev)
Style: Lambic - Gueuze
Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium

Vintage 1995 75cL bottle (unfiltered) at Kulminator. Still some low carbonation kicking in this thing. Big, sour-funky, lemony nose. Intensely tart with all kinds of citrus -- lemon, grapefruit, unripe orange -- and a highly lactic acidity that nearly goes salty on the tongue. Just a touch of acidic bitterness. Light to medium body, dryish, with soft carbonation. Really a nice experience.

1995 bottle at Kulminator, unfiltered version. After enquiring with Joris, I learned that this lambic brewer became defunct in 1993, having been bought by I believe Boon and having their beers phased out it seems. Though still brewed and released by the new brewer, thie brand gradually disappeared, until what I’m told is now only very rare releases. Joris tells me the original bottlings are still among the best (and that he is out), but certainly this bottling was a very decent representation.

Dry, old hops, big sour, cheese, balsamic vinegar aroma. Big and tart, old, combwebs, a bit thin, but still strong and defined. Powerful, a touch of strawberry, cranberry in the taste. Delicious.

Bottle (Vintage "Very Old") at home - Thanks to Jeppe for selling it to me !! Deep red/amber/orange - no head. Light sourness, brown sugar, apricot, light acid, woody. Light noticeable age !! It could be a old Faro....

Bottled (1995 vintage). Orangeish golden colour, small white head. Aroma is a bit sour apricor with some smooth earthy hints. Flavour is earthy, sour apricot and the palate is dry, but still smooth. A wellaged lambic, which has kept it’s sourness, but went very smooth.

Bottle at Kulminator. Hazy golden coloured with a white head. Light acidic aroma of barnyard, wood and fruits. Light acidic flavour of wood and fruits. Well balanced.

Kulminator bottle from 1995. Tart fruit, vinigar, still remarkably sour for the age, but mellow enough to drink a full 750 bottle to myself in under 20 mins, remarkably drinkable, wish i had the money to bring one back.

1991 25cL bottle, Akkurat Heavily cloudy, opaque caramelly body that makes a few initial bubbles which don’t translate into any head. The taste is apparently fading out a bit. Madeirisation is quite advanced and honeyed or sweetich maple notes make it feel a bit old despite a fair amount of lasting sourness in there, mostly reminiscent of apples. Fair bodied, still quite malty, but of course flat at this point. Finale hints at leather, apricot and mild cheese.

[1995] Poured a hazy golden color with white bubbles, no head or lacing on the glass. Aroma of brett, hazy, citrus, some smoke, and a bit of green apple. Taste was adequately tart, for being 12 yrs old. Brett, green apple, and tart citrus, with a lightly sour finish.